Upcycle: Oatmeal Canister To Toilet Paper Holder!

Did you know that two rolls of toilet paper fit perfectly into an old oatmeal canister?! Amazing!

Toilet paper roll fits into oatmeal cannister

We have a pedestal sink in our bathroom, so there is no cabinet space under the sink to store toiletries, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, or anything else. We’ve made do so far, but it’s sort of a hassle to keep our extra toilet paper in the linen closet just outside the bathroom.

Once I realized that toilet paper rolls fit into an oatmeal canister I knew that was the perfect solution to our dilemma!

Upcycle an oatmeal cannister into a toilet paper holder

It’s super simple to make your own. You need:

  • an empty oatmeal canister (the 42 oz size)
  • fancy paper
  • mod podge/glue

Start by cleaning out the oatmeal canister with a slightly damp paper towel. The container is cardboard so you can’t totally immerse it and wash it with water, but a damp paper towel will get the oatmeal dust out of the container.

Next pull off the little plastic ring around the top rim of the canister. Hold on to it, you’ll glue it back on later. Note: If you use thick, bulky toilet paper you may notice it doesn’t quite fit into the container easily. If this is the case, cut the “lip” off of the inside of this plastic ring. The only piece of this ring you actually need is the piece that covers the top of the canister, not any of the extra plastic on the inside.

Now choose some fun paper, cut it to size, and glue it to the canister. You can wrap it over the top and bottom edges to get a fully covered look. I used mod podge to stick the paper to the canister and it worked great. Don’t forget to cover the lid too!

Once the mod podge is dry everywhere glue the plastic ring back onto the canister. The lid won’t fit on properly unless you put this piece back.

And you’re done! Now you’ve got a fancy toilet paper holder! Or a storage container for anything small. 🙂

How do you deal with a lack of storage space in your bathroom (if that’s an issue for you)? We’re always looking for better ideas for our bathroom; there is absolutely zero storage space in our bathroom and it’s KILLING me!

If you’re looking for other awesome bathroom projects, check out these posts:

Signature

I link up at these awesome parties!

Jessi Wohlwend

I believe that anyone can do crafts and DIY projects, regardless of skill or experience. I love sharing simple craft ideas, step by step DIY project tutorials, cleaning hacks, and other tips and tricks all with one goal in mind: giving you the tools you need to “do it yourself”, complete fun projects, and make awesome things!

You May Also Like

Reader Interactions

  1. Jessi W says

    12 years ago

    I actually saw a picture like my first one above showing that the roll fits in the canister when looking around on Pinterest. The pin didn't link back to a tutorial or anything, it was just uploaded by a user, which was a bummer, but it was a great idea so I just sort of recreated my own!

  2. pinkoddy says

    12 years ago

    How did you find out they fitted perfectly? Great idea.

    • Nancy OBrien says

      10 years ago

      That was what I was thinking …. How did she know that tp would fit perfectly inside an oatmeal container? Great idea!

  3. bonniegetchell says

    12 years ago

    This is such a cute idea! Stopping by from Under the Table and Dreaming! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    -Bonnie @ Revolutionaries
    http://www.revolutionariesblog.com

  4. Debra Kapellakis says

    12 years ago

    That is so cool!

  5. Thrifty Miss Smith says

    12 years ago

    Wow I just seen one of those tp canister commercials and thought you could so make those… And you did!! It looks great good job!

  6. Jessi W says

    12 years ago

    If you wear headbands or have hair accessories or something I've also seen them used as a container for hair ties etc. with the headbands wrapped around the canister itself.

  7. Kendra @ A Proverbs 31 Wife says

    12 years ago

    That is way cute! to bad I don't have a need for one lol. I'm thinking though, surely I could come up with something I could use an up-cycled oatmeal container for 🙂

    • Mary says

      9 years ago

      I made a cute one several years back with Vintage at the beach old school blue scrap paper. I keep my hair ties and clips in it. It has held up pretty well for being in a bathroom.

  8. Jessi W says

    12 years ago

    We still keep most of our extra tp in the linen closet, cuz yeah, it'd look dumb to use these canisters for all ten extra rolls we have at any given time!

    This is mostly for "emergency" rolls, cuz it would suck to be stranded toilet-paperless in the bathroom one day. And then we just refill this canister from the linen closet as needed.

  9. Katie says

    12 years ago

    Genius!

    Our bathrooms have decent storage, but I have much better things to store in them than toilet paper, so it's in the linen closet outside the downstairs one (which seems to work fine, but maybe I ought to stash one under the sink just in case for guests) and just sitting next to the toilet in the upstairs one (no under-sink cabinet there).

    This would be cuter than the packages they come in for the upstairs bathroom, but I need to store way more than two rolls at a time up there, or I would do nothing with my life but ferry toilet paper up and down stairs. And a whole line of them would look silly.

    Still, I love making reused containers look fancy! ^_^

Load more comments

Leave a Comment or Review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *